Five Quick Windows Tips

Some Windows tips are that short that I can’t write enough to justify an article for them which is why I have decided to collect five quick Windows tips that are still very useful and probably not know to anyone reading this article. At least I hope that some of them are new to you.

These Windows tips require only a few lines to explain and maybe a minute to do, that’s why I called this article quick Windows tips. If you like this kind of articles let me know and I will continue writing quick tips articles.

1. Start Internet Explorer 7 without add-ons

Just add the parameter -extoff when starting the Internet Explorer 7 using a shortcut or the command line. This will load Internet Explorer 7 without any add-ons.

2. Rename Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin cannot be renamed by default. Open the Registry and go to the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder and change the value of Attributes from 40 01 00 20 to 70 01 00 20. Go back to the Recycle Bin, left-click it and hit F2 to rename it afterwards. Might require a restart though.

3. Display all Symbols in System Tray

Windows is only displaying a handful of system tray icons at once. If you don’t like this and would like to display every icon do the following. Right-click the start menu button and select Properties. Uncheck Hide Inactive Icons to display all icons. You could alternatively click on customize and select items that you always want to see.

4. Make sure all extensions for all file types are always shown

Even if you change the setting in Windows that all extensions should be shown even for known file types some extensions are not shown. A Registry attribute called NeverShowExt is removing the extensions for those file types. The solution ? Delete all NeverShowExt attributes in the Registy and restart Windows afterwards.

5. Show all Devices in Device Manager

To display all devices in Device Manager even those that have been removed by the user do the following: Press Windows R, type cmd and hit enter. Now enter the command set devmgr_show_non_present_devices = 1 and afterwards start devmgmt.msc, click on View and select Show Hidden Devices. This is a non permanent setting.

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Tags: windows tips
Categories: Operating Systems, Windows

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10 Responses to “Five Quick Windows Tips”

1. Alburyman says:

   December 25, 2007 at 2:06 pm

   Did the recycle bin trick…love it

   Reply
2. tullius says:

   December 25, 2007 at 8:35 pm

   always interesting, those quick tips

   Reply

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